Knightmares (God's Sword)
In the God's Sword Univer se Knightmare Frames have since become a staple on the battlefield and have been further refined in the twenty years since they've been invented. Within the development Britannian style frames have since become accepted as the norm, this had lead to the wide scale use of Fact Spheres. Measuring a Knightmare's Capabilities Not all Knightmares are created equal, each knightmare is defined by its equipment and its generation. Generation The generation is how far developed the machine is. Generally a Knightmare of a higher generation is more advanced than previous generations. Production Status In addition to the generation marker, a KMF, short hand for Knightmare Frame, is identified by whether it is a Mass Production, Semi Mass Production, Limitted Production, or Custom Frame. These monikers may be further divided based on specific frame types, as Mass Productions can be produced for either just squad commanders or for the entirety of the armed forces of a nation. Armament Armament is especially key in determing capacity of a KMF. Most Knightmares are commonly equipped with some form of railgun or other kinetic energy weapon. A knightmare may also be equipped with a melee weapon of somekind. Another common feature found almost universally is the Slash Harken. Ranged Weapons In Knightmare Combat most engagements begin outside of melee range. These opening minutes vary from kilometers of distance where high powered rifles, particularly hyper accurate sniper rifles, are used to mere city blocks and less where machine pistols and SMGs are used and all in between. Guns however are not the only ranged weapon, but are by far the most common. Other examples include particle weapons, such as Baryon or Hadron weapons, radiation weaponry, laser weapons, or some other form of directed energy weapons. These however are less common than traditional guns. Melee Weapons A knightmare may not always have the range to use its hand carried guns to this end Britannia began equipping its fourth Generation Glasgow with the Stun Tonfa a weapon which generated an electrical charge to short out enemy machines. Further devlopment in melee weapons has come in the form of swords, spears and batons as well as other designs. Melee weapons generally are equipped with some form of technology such as electrical generators to short out enemy systems or rotating blades, another particularly common weapon are MVS utilizing blades. Slash Harken An exception to Melee weapons the Slash Harken is found on almost all KMFs originally developed like Knightmare frames themselves by Britannia the Slash Harken is a wired rocket anchor. Not simply a weapon the Slash Harken may be used as a tool to climb or for other tasks such as towing damaged units away. Defensive Technology A knightmare is protected generally by some form of armor. In addition to the normal high strength composites, including advanced Sakuradite laced frames energy shields have also been developed. Armor Types Actual Armor varies from hybrid armor, generally space age composites, coupled with explosive reactive armor, or some form of ablative armor type. Rolled Homogeneous Armor Classical steel armor is relatively rare though remains effective, if too bulk for a frame to relay maintain a acceptable capacity for mobility on the modern battlefield. It is however relatively useful as arm carried and deployable shields. Titanium Strictly speaking given the decreases in the cost of titanium has lead to a more widespread use than in earlier days. Notable is the use of the German Federal Army's VTOL capable knightmares, which utilize plasma vectoring for flight. Chobham Armor Chobham armor is the informal name for composite armor that has become wide spread since the advent of the knightmare frame. Energy Barrier Technology Force Fields first were demonstrated in the field aboard the Lancelot's premiere deployment in Area 11. Since that deployment other types of energy barrier technology have been developed. Speed & Agility Knightmares are dependent on being mobile and even fourth and fifth generation frames could press 150 Kilometers and sustain that speed. Agility is the knightmares capacity to dodge and execute acrobatic maneuvers that armored vehicles would not be able to acomplish. Weight The matter of weight is a touchy method of classification due to the fact that most KMFs of latter generations are heavier than older models. Nonetheless some classify Knightmares by their weight. For example the German Federal Army classifies KMFs by weight Power Plant The power source for a Knightmare varies most knightmares rely on electric batteries, most typically sakuradite energy fillers, and the Core Luminous power plant that developed from them. More recently new types of power plants have involved nuclear power used by the True Black Knights under Lelouch vi Britannia, and the EU's heretofore unknown new energy grid system. Generations of Knightmares Knightmares did not spring fully formed from the factory and began their development some twenty years prior to the main events of God's Sword. Generations 1-4 The First four generations culminated in the development of the first truly battlefield capable Knighmare frame the Fourth generation Glasgow which was instrumental in the conquest of Japan. These early knightmares were comparitively rough and primitive but were the building blocks for latter more advanced models. Generation 5 The proven battlefield capacity of the Glasgow paved the way for the development of the fifth generation, building on the sucesses and correcting the flaws of the fourth generation Glasgow Britannia unveilled the RPI 13 Sutherland, which served as the base line unit until surpassed by other units in the present day. Though lighter than the Glasgow the Sutherland featured better armored placement and was a step above the Glasgow capable of winning one on one. The European Union unvielled its own fifth generation soon after the superior Panzer Hummel during the early stages of the war. While superior the Hummel was poorly utilized at first giving Britannia time to counter it. Generation 6 While few sixth generation machines stand out upon the battlefield as most were prototypes the one that does come close is the Sutherland derived Gloucester. Even so the sixth generation produced few real changes to the battlefield. These changes failed to produce any real changes, and lead to the fifth generation frame remaining primary amongst military inventories until the seventh generation emerged with radical new technologies that forced a jump start to development, and crash build programs to catch up. Generation 7 Unlike the previous generation the seventh marked another shift on the battlefield. The Lancelot and Gawain of Britannia, and the Gurren of the Black Knights are hailed as the beginning of the seventh generation. Each machine was a force of destruction on the battlefield capable of inflicting heavy damage against lesser enemies. The seventh generation also produced the Vincent, and Gekka mass production frames as well as the Akatsuki and Gareth during the war period. Generation 8 Building upon the sucess of the seventh generation the eighth generation KMFs were utilized mostly by the Charles era Knights of the Round and Lelouch vi Britannia. Generation 9 The first ninth generation frames were much like the seventh the Lancelot and Gurren frames. Another ninth generation frame was a Gawain derived unit that never saw combat. Specifically the Lancelot Albion and Gurren SEITEN entered combat on opposite sides once again and clashed in the war prior to the beginning God's Sword's main story. In the modern day the ninth's mass production frame is the norm for the most modern militaries of the world. Generation 10 A step above and a step further. Generation ten frames are utilized in present day by aces from the EU, UN, and Britannia these machines are variety though two demonstrate transformation capacity. The only real limit remains the matter of power. Generation 11 + Utilized at the beginning of God's Sword only by the Lelouch vi Britannia's Black Knights machines of the 11th generation and above are heavily armed machines. These machines are steps towards solving the power consumption problem through the use of nuclear energy. Eleventh generation frames are increasing larger frames, with True Black Knight Eon Knightmares, a 12th generation, being sixteen meters plus. Category:Code Geass Category:God's Sword